An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.

Benjamin Franklin

“Yeeee-owwww!”

I shot up in bed in the middle of the night, suffering a major leg cramp.

Thankfully, I didn’t actually cry out loud, but the scream was loud in my mind. If you’ve ever had a middle of the night leg cramp, you know the pain.

It took F-O-R-E-V-E-R (probably like two seconds, lol) for me to find a position that settled my muscles and let me relax. And, for about two more days, I felt the lingering effects of the pain as I walked around.

Believe it or not, there’s a lesson from this story.

See, I hadn’t been very diligent about drinking water for the previous few days. Thus, it’s no surprise that being dehydrated affected my muscles while I was trying to sleep.

My own fault.

I’ve noticed that most of my bad trades are like that. Ignoring my normal trading plan and eventually suffering the consequences.

Again, my own fault.

Sure, I could blame the markets for doing something weird. Call it bad luck.

Except I know that good luck tends to stack when I’m following my trading plan and bad luck tends to show up when I’m ignoring my trading plan.

And although I don’t cry out in agony in the middle of the night -- even if just in my head -- I know that I can’t put the blame on the markets. Because the markets are going to do what they do. A good trading plan is ultimately profitable regardless.

The blame for dumb trading mistakes is always on me.

All right, let’s talk about today’s news... 

Today’s Macro Headlines (Source: Yahoo Finance)

Yahoo Finance

Why it matters …

Once again, “bad news is good news!” From the article:

“Private sector job growth slowed dramatically in August, according to the monthly report from ADP. Private payrolls grew by 54,000, compared with estimates for 65,000.

The data served as the latest sign of shakiness in the labor market after July jobs openings showed further cracks, fueling confidence that Fed officials will lower rates at their September meeting.”

This is certainly not good news for folks looking for a job, but it is good news for folks looking for a rate-cut from the Fed.

Index Snapshot

See the Legend in the footer below

Comments: Sideways action this morning. No conviction in the markets up or down (leaning bullish). Which is great for how we trade, because premium decay benefits us as Options sellers. 

Bitcoin continues its struggles at the 112K area, getting rejected there today.

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